• Help Support The Rugby Forum :

Doug Howlett

F

fcukernaut

Guest
With his hattrick performance against Italy, Doug Howlett surpassed Christian Cullen as the All Blacks All-time try scoring leader. With that said, where does he rank amoung the all-time greats at that position, in the Black Jersey? Obviously he is not in the class of Cullen, or even Jeff Wilson, but does he sneak into the top 5?
 
With his hattrick performance against Italy, Doug Howlett surpassed Christian Cullen as the All Blacks All-time try scoring leader. With that said, where does he rank amoung the all-time greats at that position, in the Black Jersey? Obviously he is not in the class of Cullen, or even Jeff Wilson, but does he sneak into the top 5?
[/b]
Click to expand...
The real question is; Is he in the top 3 NOW??? Unlucky, Rico (who also would have been good cover at centre).
 
Wow, well done to Howlett!

Whilst I agree with you on the fact that he is not quite in the same league as the marvellous Cullen or tremendous Wilson, he would certainly round out the top 5.
 
He's an All Black Great in that he has made his mark in history, and will forever be there... but he isn't an All Black legend.

Top 10 definatly in the All Black wingers, but Top 5 would be a stretch - Kirwan, Lomu, Jeff Wilson for a start are recent players who would be ranked ahead of him. Although his consistency was up there with the best of them.
 
yeah cullen was still pretty awesome when he played a bit on the wing wasn't he!

but i thought he equalled the test record? not surpassed it?

and arent there heaps of old school wingers that were bloody awesome? i'd still have dougie in there!
 
Lomu, Kirwan, Wilson, Cullen, Brian Williams, just off the top of my head. No, certainly not in the top 5 as far as I`m concerned. But equalling the Cullen record (not having broken it yet), still pretty impressive.
 
I reckon he's rather underated. Mainly because he's a grafter and not that flashy.

Howletts defense would be right up with Wilson and his finishing is easily as clinical as Kirwan and Rokocoko. The feature that I personally belive makes Howlett one of the best is his instinct. That guy is ALWAYS in the right place. Thats a talent that is hard to measure but is just as important as breaking 7 tackles (like Lomu) or powerful direction changes (Kirwan, Rokocoko). He's amazingly handy under the high ball too.

Howletts try scoring ratio is pretty amazing, and you've got to respect his athleticism in staying relatively uninjured over the years. And it certainly isn't from shirking any work!

People always talk about how good a player COULD have been if they hadn't got injured, Lomu, Wilkinson etc. But this guys had an amazing career and is still only 28! Thats only 3 years older than Sivivatu.


He's got:

50 tries from 58 NPC games
The record Super14 try count of 59 tries, in 104 games
47 tries (equalling the AB record) in 60 tests.

I don't know who I'd remove from the top 3. But I'd have to find a spot there for Doug.

Maybe...

1.Lomu
2.Kirwan
3.Howlett
4.Wilson
5.Williams

As much talent as there is at wing is NZ at the mo.
We're sure gunna miss him when he's gone!

Cullen's a fullback for me.
 
I'm surprised you guys don't have Rokocoko in your top 5.

He's 24, and last time I checked, he was on 38 tries for the All Blacks.
He's scored hat-tricks against most of the major nations.
He scored 17 tries in one year.. Most in a calendar year.

Rokocoko will break whatever record Howlett will set, if he stays injury free.
 
I'd say you're right about Roks getting the record (AB's) eventually IF he stays injury free. He's a pretty highly strung machinie though.

Howlett and Gear leaving will make it a lot easier for him to get game time. As there's gunna be a lack of experience at 14 obviously.

And while I realise we're only mainly talking about AB careers, Howletts Super14 and NPC stats will be pretty hard for Roks to catch I would think.

If he stays injury free like you say and gets there he'll be near the top3 then. But I don't think he's in the Top5 just yet though. Still, there's alot of rugby left in the world cup alone to prove me wrong.

Here's hoping the rocket man does a Jonah on us...
 
I reckon he's rather underated. Mainly because he's a grafter and not that flashy.

Howletts defense would be right up with Wilson and his finishing is easily as clinical as Kirwan and Rokocoko. The feature that I personally belive makes Howlett one of the best is his instinct. That guy is ALWAYS in the right place. Thats a talent that is hard to measure but is just as important as breaking 7 tackles (like Lomu) or powerful direction changes (Kirwan, Rokocoko). He's amazingly handy under the high ball too.

Howletts try scoring ratio is pretty amazing, and you've got to respect his athleticism in staying relatively uninjured over the years. And it certainly isn't from shirking any work!

People always talk about how good a player COULD have been if they hadn't got injured, Lomu, Wilkinson etc. But this guys had an amazing career and is still only 28! Thats only 3 years older than Sivivatu.


He's got:

50 tries from 58 NPC games
The record Super14 try count of 59 tries, in 104 games
47 tries (equalling the AB record) in 60 tests.

I don't know who I'd remove from the top 3. But I'd have to find a spot there for Doug.

Maybe...

1.Lomu
2.Kirwan
3.Howlett
4.Wilson
5.Williams

As much talent as there is at wing is NZ at the mo.
We're sure gunna miss him when he's gone!

Cullen's a fullback for me. [/b]
Click to expand...



Wow. Doesn't that make his strike rate near 80percent?



doesnt sivivatu have a better strike rate then roko?

[/b]
Click to expand...



Only because Sivi has less test caps than the rocket man.
 
I see that Dougies now 3rd equal on the All Time RWC Try scoring records.

15 - Jonah Lomu (NZ)
11 - Rory Underwood (Eng)
10 - David Campese (Aus)
10 - Doug Howlett (NZ)
10 - Brian Lima (Sam)

Anyone see a new World Record being set?

5 tries is a tall order!

But not impossible at all.
 
I see that Dougies now 3rd equal on the All Time RWC Try scoring records.

15 - Jonah Lomu (NZ)
11 - Rory Underwood (Eng)
10 - David Campese (Aus)
10 - Doug Howlett (NZ)
10 - Brian Lima (Sam)

Anyone see a new World Record being set?

5 tries is a tall order!

But not impossible at all.
[/b]
Click to expand...

Those two against Scotland should make that record very reachable.
 
It'll be intersting if he starts against Romania.
Should push that record pretty close with the patterns the AB's are using to score tries and the form that he's showing.

The Scotland game on the weekend proved again for me how good Howlett really is. The amount of time that guy is in the support channel right when the offload is needed is amazing. So is his stamina to put so much pressure on the opposition kickers, and when chasing the box kick.

Had a good game under the high ball too. All class!!
 
Personally, I think Howlett is the in-form AB winger at the moment...

I believe Roks and Sivi will have to fight it out for the other wing spot...
 
i believe that sivivatu will win that battle...he has more of an edge to his game..

but on topic...if you guys didnt follow the super14 and the blues then you missed out on ALL the hardwork he did to get his spot..he deserve all the recognition he gets..and yeah maybe not as flash as a cullen or wilson or as iconic as a lomu..but certainly the most consistant of allblacks in the past decade...he is so much better then rico gear and on the form he is in now..he is much better then roko and sivi..he should have the 14 on lock but depending on what game style they are after they have the variety and luxary to mix and match

i always thought..with his accuracy and his field awareness he would make a great fullback..
 
I think you're right about Sivivatu...

I got slammed in another thread for saying this but I don't think the Rocket man has been as dynamic as he was a couple of years ago... and at the moment the other two guys in the squad are showing that they deserve to be in the starting XV...
 

Latest posts

Top